All Shook Up March 29-April 5

[jedijill]

Saturday, April 5

Waaa, today was my last day in California but today was my day to see Casa de Nuevo!!!

I slept in after the late (wine soaked!) night before. I finished packing and loaded the car. I stopped by DTD for some last minute shopping including some treats from Marceline Confections. Sadly, I said goodbye to DLR and headed to Long Beach to meet up with Alison. Fran still wasn't feeling great so she sent her regrets.

We decided to have lunch and Alison suggested a place down by the harbor. We got a shrimp and crab boil. It was sooooo good and tasted even better eating outside n
ext to the water. There was enough food for 10 people so Alison had plenty to take home to Fran.











After lunch, we dropped the leftovers off at Alison and Fran's (now) old house. Alison gave me the nickel tour of Long Beach. After seeing all the sites (including the place Jenny used to work!), we headed over to the new house. The house is gorgeous and I love seeing all the updates in Alison's house saga thread. I'm looking forward to booking my time in the Olga Vacation Club suite.

I said goodbye to Alison and made the sad trek to LAX. I dropped off the car and found my gate. I had quite a while to wait..but I'd rather wait at the airport than stuck in LA traffic! I have to say LAX sucks. There were 4 barely working outlets in the whole terminal and all the teenage girls were hogging them. I finally got a chance to charge and then got on the plane home. I managed to score a front bulkhead seat and thought I was in the all clear for the middle seat to be open but an extremely large Australian man boarded late and sat there. Why do guys think they need to, how do I say this, spread out? Between getting squished by him and my head cold, I was miserable. I was very happy when we got to Denver...I finally got home about 1 AM since the flight had been delayed.

I passed out but had to get up on Sunday and do laundry and pack for a work trip to Philadelphia early Monday morning.

The trip was fantastic and I'm a DL fan! I really may take a break from WDW for awhile. I love the nostalgic feeling of DL and Carsland is fantastic. The best part was finally meeting Alison and Fran in 3D. I can't wait to head out West again!

Next trip up is the Sept 20 Southern Caribbean cruise on the Disney Magic out of San Juan, PR. I'm super excited and cannot wait to leave. I have a bunch of planning left to do.

Thanks for sticking with me. Sorry the report drug out so long!

Jill in CO

 

[franandaj]

Yay for finishing the TR and the update of Long Beach. I'm sorry you didn't take pictures of the house because I would laugh at how it's changed since then. Leshaface came over today and she is the only DISer to have seen the place since you visited. You wouldn't believe how it's changed, the place is like a war zone with construction everywhere!

I'm glad that we could all go to that Kurt Russell Gogi Wine dinner! I had so much fun! And getting all that extra wine was fun and a bonus! I was a little worse for wear that day, but since you shopped in the morning it gave me a little time to recover before our fabulous lunch!

I'm so glad you took pictures of the Marina. I forget to take pictures since I see that stuff so often. When living at the old house, I traveled a route that took me past the Marina when I had to pick up prescriptions so I saw it often. New house, not so much, but still it's not far away if I want to make the effort to drive there. I love living so close to the beach!

I hope you come back to DLR often and we can hang out and have fun, go on rides and enjoy the fabulous restaurants! I don't get out there enough and DISers coming to town gives me an excuse to actually get some mileage out of my AP!

Great TR and everything else! I hope you do one for San Juan, it sounds like a fun cruise. Just hang in there and remember, it will be during the Winter months so you won't want to get out and do things. You'll need a project to work on!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Congrats on the NEW CAR!!! It looks amazing and I bet you'll enjoy driving it in Co. Love the Minecraft cake! How did you do the squares?


Thanks for the update and finishing up the TR. So sad. I love reading trip reports and am always sad when they finish up.

All the food porn is fantastic and I love where you and Alison went for lunch. Seafood is soooo my thing.

The best picture of all?

A great picture of Alison, Fran, and myself.

Great picture! Love how y'all scrub up.


Thanks for sharing. Here's to San Juan.......and then Australia?

 

[MEK]

Jill - that was an update worth waiting for!

Congrats on the new car - NICE!

Those birthday cakes are amazing! Always fun to get together with the family for birthdays.

That dinner looks amazing - both the food and the wine. And yeah - I think you mentioned more wine - that looks right up my alley. Really enjoyed all the pictures! I would love to do something like that someday.

Beautiful marina lunch prior to your departure. I bet you hated going home.

I really enjoyed reading about your trip. Thanks for sharing!

 

[pkondz]

I'm so sorry! I'm a terrible trip reporter!

Bad Jill! Bad girl!

The weather finally got nice and then I got really busy. This is the busiest time of the year for us at work and I've barely kept up with other folks reports.

Welll.... I'll let it go, this time.

My nephew turned 7 and we made him a Minecraft themed cake.

I really like that. Very creative.

I also spent a weekend buying a new car. My beloved Jeep was totaled last year and I had to buy a replacement that I didn't love. I finally took the plunge and got the car that I've been wanting...a 2014 Ford Escape. It has some fantastic technology and gets great gas mileage!

Congrats on the new wheels!

(my landlord apparently thought my Mickey towels would be good to use during the remodel...grrr!)

???? What? So he didn't bring rags but figured it would be okay to ruin your towels?
What's with that?

I stopped for lunch at the Earl of Sandwich and got my EoS fix....There isn't one here so I only get them in Orlando or if I fly to the Philadelphia airport.

The closest one to me would be at Detroit airport... Only a 17 hour drive!

We were held in the lounge and served appetizers and the Gogi Rose wine.

Well if you're going to be held against your will, at least the food was good.

the hearts of palm and squid ink was interesting.

I bet!

The two ladies on the right are Diane Disney's daughters and Walt's granddaughters.

Cool!

The vintner and Bob Gurr.

Am I a bad person because I had to look up who Bob Gurr is?

A great picture of Alison, Fran, and myself.

The man was driving and was not drinking so he gave Alison and I his glass of wine so we would split. We were very happy.

I'm sure you protested mightily.
"Oh, no. We couldn't.... Yes we could. Gimme!"

I didn't realize that the gravedigger in the HM was his likeness...Alison pointed it out...what an awesome part of Disney history!

That's cool, too!

The elk was delicious but here in Colorado, we would call it an elk burger.

That's the first thing I thought of when I saw the picture.

Kurt Russell had been talking about the wines before each course but now he took the time to talk a little about his career and his connection to Disney. I really wasn't aware of his history...It was really fascinating to hear his stories about working for Disney and his time with Walt.

At the risk of dating myself... oh, I guess it's too late for that...
I remember watching "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" and "The Strongest Man in the World" on TV a long, long time ago.

No matter how full I am, there is always room for chocolate!

Ya got that right!

We got a shrimp and crab boil. It was sooooo good and tasted even better eating outside next to the water.

Oh boy. Does that look good.
And dining outside is the icing on the cake!

I had quite a while to wait..but I'd rather wait at the airport than stuck in LA traffic!

I feel the same way.
For any airport.

I have to say LAX sucks. There were 4 barely working outlets in the whole terminal and all the teenage girls were hogging them.

Teenage girls... with electronics? How odd.
Must be a California thing. :

Why do guys think they need to, how do I say this, spread out?

Just so we can be close to you, my dear.

I passed out but had to get up on Sunday and do laundry and pack for a work trip to Philadelphia early Monday morning.

Vacation laundry.
The worst laundry ever.

The trip was fantastic and I'm a DL fan!

Good for you!

Thanks for sticking with me. Sorry the report drug out so long!

Thanks for writing it, Jill!

 

[kelmac284]

Loved your report. Just had to add that my mom and girls and I were down there that weekend as well and that was a decent earthquake. I have lived in CA most of my life and even lived in LA when they had a rather large quake in Northridge where I was going to college. That one was big and really shook us and did a lot of damage but this one in March was weird because it was very long.

We were actually down in Ontario at a convention and mom and I were already in bed and the beds started shaking and then it REALLY started going and the weird part was in kept going and going. We got up and turned on the tv and weirdly enough my daughters were in a huge room with a bunch of kids at the convention and they say they didn't feel it which is surprising because it was a good one.

But just be glad you weren't at Disney because I guess they had to close.

We were there on that Sat and Sunday as well and they kept having little after shocks and had to shut stuff down. So crazy!

 

[kelmac284]

So finished reading your report and WOW you got to do some amazing stuff and def tried all of the great foods.

I just noticed that on that Sunday you were in so many places that we were. We had coffee at Starbucks that morning as you did and were in a lot of the same spots. I kept looking in your pics to see if I saw us in the background LOL.

That dinner with Kurt Russell WOW. Looked amazing. What a fabulous trip!!

 

[Pinkocto]

I don't know how you guys were able to eat with Kurt Russell RIGHT THERE! what a fabulous evening

Congrats on the new car!

Thanks so much for sharing your trip, that was a great adventure

 

[jedijill]

Yay for finishing the TR and the update of Long Beach. I'm sorry you didn't take pictures of the house because I would laugh at how it's changed since then. Leshaface came over today and she is the only DISer to have seen the place since you visited. You wouldn't believe how it's changed, the place is like a war zone with construction everywhere!

I'm glad that we could all go to that Kurt Russell Gogi Wine dinner! I had so much fun! And getting all that extra wine was fun and a bonus! I was a little worse for wear that day, but since you shopped in the morning it gave me a little time to recover before our fabulous lunch!

I'm so glad you took pictures of the Marina. I forget to take pictures since I see that stuff so often. When living at the old house, I traveled a route that took me past the Marina when I had to pick up prescriptions so I saw it often. New house, not so much, but still it's not far away if I want to make the effort to drive there. I love living so close to the beach!

I hope you come back to DLR often and we can hang out and have fun, go on rides and enjoy the fabulous restaurants! I don't get out there enough and DISers coming to town gives me an excuse to actually get some mileage out of my AP!

Great TR and everything else! I hope you do one for San Juan, it sounds like a fun cruise. Just hang in there and remember, it will be during the Winter months so you won't want to get out and do things. You'll need a project to work on!

I had a fabulous time and loved hanging out with you! I really can't wait to see the house again....all the construction and craziness will be worth it when you are finally done!

The wine dinner was fab! So much fun!

Long Beach was beautiful! I can see why you guys like it there....the marina was gorgeous!

I need to do some long weekend trips....I probably will once my DVC points finally catch back up...I'm dying to stay at the GCH. I was messing around the other day looking at some days in Jan...There was some availability..I was tempted but I'm trying to be good!

We'll see about a TR for the cruise...but you are right...It will give me something to do over the winter.

Jill in CO

 

[jedijill]

Congrats on the NEW CAR!!! It looks amazing and I bet you'll enjoy driving it in Co. Love the Minecraft cake! How did you do the squares?


Thanks for the update and finishing up the TR. So sad. I love reading trip reports and am always sad when they finish up.

All the food porn is fantastic and I love where you and Alison went for lunch. Seafood is soooo my thing.

The best picture of all?




Great picture! Love how y'all scrub up.


Thanks for sharing. Here's to San Juan.......and then Australia?

Gah...I had my reply typed out and then my browser crashed.

thanks...I love my new car! It's so much fun to drive. It will be really nice this winter with all wheel drive and heated seats and remote start!

The Minecraft cake is made of cubes of chocolate cake, white cake tinted grey, Rice Crispy treats, and red and blue Jello Jigglers. We added a couple of toy characters to finish it off.

The food this trip was great...the company was even better! I'm sorry this trip was over but can't wait to head back to DL some of these days.

I'm really looking forward to the cruise. I hope Cynthia can come....read her PTR for the details. I need to get busy doing some more planning!

And thanks...I love that picture!

I still have Australia pencilled in for 2015. I need to really start doing some planning and serious saving of money. Right now I have some ambiguous plans...the only thing I know for sure is I want to climb the bridge in Sydney, see Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef, and meet you!

Jill in CO

 

[jedijill]

Jill - that was an update worth waiting for!

Congrats on the new car - NICE!

Those birthday cakes are amazing! Always fun to get together with the family for birthdays.

That dinner looks amazing - both the food and the wine. And yeah - I think you mentioned more wine - that looks right up my alley. Really enjoyed all the pictures! I would love to do something like that someday.

Beautiful marina lunch prior to your departure. I bet you hated going home.

I really enjoyed reading about your trip. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks! Sorry it took me so long.

The kids birthdays are 2 years and 3 days apart to really handy for me to only have to travel home once to celebrate both birthdays! We have a great tradition in our family with the birthday cakes. My mom took Wilton cake decorating classes back in the early 70's and always made homemade cakes for the family. We talked her into making my brother and SIL's wedding cake. My brother and I took the Wilton classes too and now we collaborate on making cakes for the kids. Sometimes our ideas get bigger than our talents but we have fun...we are trying to scale back after last year's Tangled tower...that cake about did both of us in.

The dinner was an amazing experience. I was so lucky that it worked out.

It was really hard to leave the beautiful ocean to come back to the snow and cold but at least I have beautiful mountains to look at.

Jill in CO

 

[jedijill]

Bad Jill! Bad girl!



Welll.... I'll let it go, this time.



I really like that. Very creative.



Congrats on the new wheels!



???? What? So he didn't bring rags but figured it would be okay to ruin your towels?
What's with that?



The closest one to me would be at Detroit airport... Only a 17 hour drive!



Well if you're going to be held against your will, at least the food was good.



I bet!



Cool!



Am I a bad person because I had to look up who Bob Gurr is?







I'm sure you protested mightily.
"Oh, no. We couldn't.... Yes we could. Gimme!"



That's cool, too!



That's the first thing I thought of when I saw the picture.



At the risk of dating myself... oh, I guess it's too late for that...
I remember watching "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" and "The Strongest Man in the World" on TV a long, long time ago.



Ya got that right!



Oh boy. Does that look good.
And dining outside is the icing on the cake!



I feel the same way.
For any airport.



Teenage girls... with electronics? How odd.
Must be a California thing. :



Just so we can be close to you, my dear.



Vacation laundry.
The worst laundry ever.



Good for you!



Thanks for writing it, Jill!

Thanks for joining in!

Jill in CO

 

[jedijill]

Loved your report. Just had to add that my mom and girls and I were down there that weekend as well and that was a decent earthquake. I have lived in CA most of my life and even lived in LA when they had a rather large quake in Northridge where I was going to college. That one was big and really shook us and did a lot of damage but this one in March was weird because it was very long.

We were actually down in Ontario at a convention and mom and I were already in bed and the beds started shaking and then it REALLY started going and the weird part was in kept going and going. We got up and turned on the tv and weirdly enough my daughters were in a huge room with a bunch of kids at the convention and they say they didn't feel it which is surprising because it was a good one.

But just be glad you weren't at Disney because I guess they had to close.

We were there on that Sat and Sunday as well and they kept having little after shocks and had to shut stuff down. So crazy!

So finished reading your report and WOW you got to do some amazing stuff and def tried all of the great foods.

I just noticed that on that Sunday you were in so many places that we were. We had coffee at Starbucks that morning as you did and were in a lot of the same spots. I kept looking in your pics to see if I saw us in the background LOL.

That dinner with Kurt Russell WOW. Looked amazing. What a fabulous trip!!

I missed the big one on Friday night...the one I experienced was the smaller aftershock on Saturday afternoon. I'm not sure I want to be in a big one!

Vacation is all about food for me. I missed out on some treats that I really want to try on my next trip.

Too funny that we were there at the same times! I know some people hate Starbucks but I am thrilled! I don't drink coffee but am addicted to iced green tea...made my mornings so much better!

Kurt Russell is such a nice guy. He is still very handsome. Goldie is a lucky lady!

Jill in CO

 

[KatMark]

you came back to update.

LOVE the birthday cakes.

First of all, love your choice of cars. I loved my Ford Escape and miss it dearly.

What a special event and how lucky you got to go. I LOVE Kurt Russell and the picture of you and him is spectacular.

That food at lunch looks like it would have fed an army. Oh my...but it looks so very good.

I'm glad you got a little tour and got to see the new house.

on the big man squishing you on the flight home.

I enjoyed all the info on DL; not sure if we will get there next year or not, but if we do, I'll be bugging you for tips.

 

[jedijill]

I don't know how you guys were able to eat with Kurt Russell RIGHT THERE! what a fabulous evening

Congrats on the new car!

Thanks so much for sharing your trip, that was a great adventure

I admit I stared at him a lot! It was a hoot meeting Bob Gurr as well...He was a special bonus Disney celebrity! So much history out in LA!


It was a fantastic trip!

Jill in CO

 

[jedijill]

you came back to update.

First of all, love your choice of cars. I loved my Ford Escape and miss it dearly.

What a special event and how lucky you got to go. I LOVE Kurt Russell and the picture of you and him is spectacular.

That food at lunch looks like it would have fed an army. Oh my...but it looks so very good.

I'm glad you got a little tour and got to see the new house.

on the big man squishing you on the flight home.

I enjoyed all the info on DL; not sure if we will get there next year or not, but if we do, I'll be bugging you for tips.

Thanks! I love my new Escape. I had a Jeep Liberty that I loved that got totaled last Labor Day weekend. I had to replace it in a hurry and used cars are so expensive! I replaced it with a 05 Escape that was completely stripped down and I never really liked it. I finally decided to take the plunge and buy what I really wanted! I'll suck up a car payment for awhile.

Kurt is still extremely handsome.

Lunch was huge! It really could have fed a small army...but that portion was suggested for 2 people to share!!!! I hate to see the bigger size!

I hope things work out for you guys and you do get to go to DL. I loved it and won't wait nearly as long next time to visit again.

Jill in CO

 

[PrincessInOz]

Gah...I had my reply typed out and then my browser crashed.

thanks...I love my new car! It's so much fun to drive. It will be really nice this winter with all wheel drive and heated seats and remote start!

The Minecraft cake is made of cubes of chocolate cake, white cake tinted grey, Rice Crispy treats, and red and blue Jello Jigglers. We added a couple of toy characters to finish it off.

Thanks!

The food this trip was great...the company was even better! I'm sorry this trip was over but can't wait to head back to DL some of these days.

I'm really looking forward to the cruise. I hope Cynthia can come....read her PTR for the details. I need to get busy doing some more planning!

And thanks...I love that picture!

I still have Australia pencilled in for 2015. I need to really start doing some planning and serious saving of money. Right now I have some ambiguous plans...the only thing I know for sure is I want to climb the bridge in Sydney, see Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef, and meet you!

Jill in CO

Okay. We need to keep in contact on the DisMeet. I'd love to make sure it happens. I have ambiguous plans to go the Europe. I need to start some serious saving as well and don't know when we will plan to go.

 

[rentayenta]

Ok wow, this is like the coolest update ever! Congrats on the new car! It's gorgeous.

The birthday cakes are too fun. Mine Craft is very popular here. Clever idea.

Great pic of you and Kurt. G-d that man is good looking.

Dinner looks delicious. The event looks wonderful. And I agree, that is a fabulous picture of the three of you.

Isn't Long Beach wonderful? Ahhh, thanks for the peek. Where was the crab boil? I can't pick the place out?

Love Earl too. We don't have them here either. Love the Original.

 

[jedijill]

Thanks!






Okay. We need to keep in contact on the DisMeet. I'd love to make sure it happens. I have ambiguous plans to go the Europe. I need to start some serious saving as well and don't know when we will plan to go.

Sounds like a plan. Europe is great too! I want to go back but I need to go some places I haven't been before.

Jill in CO

 

[jedijill]

Ok wow, this is like the coolest update ever! Congrats on the new car! It's gorgeous.

The birthday cakes are too fun. Mine Craft is very popular here. Clever idea.

Great pic of you and Kurt. G-d that man is good looking.

Dinner looks delicious. The event looks wonderful. And I agree, that is a fabulous picture of the three of you.

Isn't Long Beach wonderful? Ahhh, thanks for the peek. Where was the crab boil? I can't pick the place out?

Love Earl too. We don't have them here either. Love the Original.

Thanks Jenny!

The Minecraft cake was my brother's idea and design. He is really creative...I'm just the hired muscle.

I hope Alison can help out with the name of the restaurant...I can't remember! It was really good though.

Earl is great! I wish we had one here but then it wouldn't be as special.

Jill in CO